I recently re-visited an old project to do some updates that were long overdue. I finally got the battery guard and the USB charging ports installed and setup. It is nice to have a low voltage cutout to protect the batteries from 12 volt attachments. The inverter already had a protection circuit.
Updates always incur some issues with organization. The main box which contains the MPPT solar charge controller and the bus bars that connect the two battery boxes with the box with the inverter charger and transfer switch. Seems to have become a rats-nest of wire now. If I would have know I would have gotten longer copper bars for the bus, but for my desired ampacity it would have cost a small fortune to go up in size. Also the larger size would have been harder to drill as copper work hardens. Finally I can get the polycarbonate shield cut to add extra layer of safety.
- Box one Distribution
- 30A MPPT solar charge controller.
- Bus bar to connect everything
- 2 Anderson powerpole disconnects(yellow) for connection to the battery boxes.
- 1 Anderson powerpole disconnects (grey)for connection to inverter.
- New Battery Guard to protect the batteries from load.
- New Blue Sea ST Blade Battery mount fuse block.
- New USB charge ports connected to the Battery guard via the blue sea systems fuse block and switches.
- Two battery boxes each with two 6V Trojan AGM Batteries in series with a protection fuse to provide 12V and 215AH each box. with about 3 ft of 0/3 cable to connect to the distribution box.
- One “shore power” box with a KISAE 1000W pure sine wave inverter-charger with integrated transfer switch, with a 200A fast acting T-fuse on 10ft of 0/3 high flex cable.
- three foldable 100W solar panels and 30 ft of cable to connect to the MPPT
- All this to keep my Bluebell Rocky Road Frozen during the next gulf coast storm.
Finally the USB ports also proved a easy way to check the battery voltage for overall system status. It will also charge the phones without issues during an power event. Switch on the left enables the Battery Guard, and the one on the right enables both USB ports. I wonder how many times I can charge my phone with a 12V 400+AH battery bank? I know it will run the freezer for 5+ days.
Once I get some extra blade fuses i can add circuits to the Blue Sea connection up to 4 total. I may put in 12 V “cigarette lighter” plug to run the freezer direct without need for the inverter. A final note the folks at donrowe.com were super helpful friendly on top of having great prices on inverter-chargers and accessories.